Disney Pokes Holes In Rail System Plan

Walt Disney World officials say they don't see how they or anyone in Central Florida would benefit from a proposed computerized train system approved last month by the Orange County Commission.

In their first extensive public comments on the project, Disney officials stopped short of saying they won't support the $394 million project. But they did make it clear they have strong reservations about the 11.7-mile system, which would link Epcot Center and International Drive.

Disney World vice president Bob Allen said he is concerned that few people other than Disney have questioned the merits of the project. ''You don't hear anyone in the community raising these questions,'' he said.

''It's like it's been left to Disney to make this decision for people.''

Sources said Disney had remained quiet on the project in the belief it would fail under its own weight. The county commission, however, gave the project a major boost last month when it tentatively approved a financing plan that would obligate the county to pay the system's developers about $400 million over the next 30 years to build and operate the transit line.

Before construction can begin, the federal and state governments must put up $92 million in grants, and landowners along the route must donate rights of way. The project also would be financed with private investment.

A consortium headed by Matra, a French conglomerate, would build and operate the system. The consortium would be responsible for cost overruns and financial losses, should the system carry fewer riders than projected.

Disney is on the spot because of its prominence and the fact that 2 1/2 to 3 miles of the line would run through its property. In addition, about 45 percent of the system's passengers would begin or end their trips at one of three stations on Disney property.

Although a common perception is that the system would help Disney, company officials don't see it that way. When asked if he viewed the system as an asset, Allen said, ''At this point, no. But maybe we haven't seen the whole picture yet.''

What Disney officials said they do know is that tourists don't need a train to quickly go from International Drive to their theme parks.

To determine the kind of traffic vacationers face, Disney had two workers play tourist the weekend after Christmas, when Disney set attendance records. The ''tourists'' began their journey to Epcot Center at the Orlando Marriott hotel at International Drive and Sand Lake Road at 9:30 a.m., a sort of ''rush hour'' for tourists.

Bruce Laval, a Disney official who has studied the train proposal, said he was ''a little startled'' at the results.

''Traffic on I-4 moved smoothly at 55 mph,'' he said, and tourists completed their journey in less than 25 minutes. By contrast, the train trip would take 18 to 20 minutes.

The exercise led Laval to conclude that tourists don't need a train system to travel quickly to Disney from International Drive. Nor do Disney officials see any need developing.

While Disney officials expect their parks to continue to grow, they said a dramatic increase in traffic would be blunted by a proposed extension of International Drive from near Sea World to I-4 and a strategy aimed at extending the stay of tourists on Disney property.

By getting -- and keeping -- those tourists, Disney officials said traffic problems will be confined largely within their boundaries.

Access to Disney may have to be improved if Disney develops large tracts for commercial and residential uses, but Allen said construction of a beltway and other improvements may take care of the problem.

''We don't know because we don't know what will be done in terms of beltlines and other transportation improvements,'' he said.

What local officials must do, Allen said, is rank their transportation needs in order of importance and decide just how necessary the train system to Disney really is.

If the train system were built, Laval questioned whether it would be a cost-effective means of moving people and whether it would carry as many passengers as Matra thinks.

''They made some ridership assumptions . . . that appear optimistic,'' Laval said after taking a preliminary look at ridership studies done for Orange County.

Laval summed up the problem: Because the system would not be linked to the airport, any chance of talking tourists out of renting a car would vanish. Once tourists have spent money on a car, they would use it rather than the train, he said.